My evolution as a teacher

Sometimes simplicity brings the sweetest results. Removing one bored and unchallenged student from a class can open up other students to learning in ways one never thought possible. Good ole flash cards can be more effective than any fancy online vocabulary system.

I realized about one month ago that a couple of my students were simply not absorbing any of the vocabulary words they were learning. After a couple of disappointing review sessions, I resolved to maintain a set of flash cards for all of their vocabulary words--a habit I forfeited after realizing how tedious it was to keep up cards for a dozen different classes. But JiSu and Guen Woo needed it! I also started to crackdown on the unfinished homework problem.

I'm pleased to say these simple efforts bred spectacular results. At first, the vocab quizzing cost us nearly twenty minutes of class time. I started setting aside difficult cards for second reviews, but gradually the second review pile receded. Then tonight, JiSu whizzed through her flash cards, and I couldn't contain my happiness. I ran around the desks and gave her a good shoulder squeeze, telling her how proud I was.

Recent wedding plans have forced me into forward-thinking, but when I leave work these days, I wish I didn't have to give up teaching my students. My evolution as a teacher is something that makes me laugh and smile. It's sort of this comic strip in my head.

In the first box, I am a scared and lonely cartoon. My inner monologue says something like "Please like me, kids. I'm nervous and alone!" During this phase, I acted pretty weak as a teacher because I felt pretty powerless in general. I prayed just to get through each day of classes.

In the second box, I'm sort of an entertainer--like the ringleader of a circus or a magician pulling new tricks out of her hat to wow kiddy eyes. My thought bubble in this box says: "You thought yesterday was fun. Wait until you see what we're going to do today!"

3rd box: I'm noticing that their amazement should be no substitute for a lack of learning. Plus, I'm running out of ideas. I waver back and forth between carrots and sticks, but decide carrots are easier and tear-proof. My speech bubble: "I'll give you one piece of candy if you do your homework, two pieces if you answer this question, and heck, if you're a good little boy, then we can eat the whole bag and play UNO for twenty minutes of class." (I'm hyperbolizing, but you get the idea.)

4th box: My class room is a zoo because of my easygoingness, and I'm a bit dumbfounded. "How did they become such monsters?" Thought bubble to follow: "O...I made them that way."

5th box: I decide it's time to be a disciplinary, even if some kids hate me. Speech bubble: "This is English class. If you're not here to learn, then 'na ga!'" That's Korean for "Get out!"

6th box: I'm finally comfortable being a disciplinary unapologetically. I've figured out a few things about rowdy boys and whiny girls, and more importantly, I've learned that planning a successful lesson is different from teaching successfully. Patrick informs me that I should test the students at least once per month to make sure they're really learning. Funny, it should take so long for someone to mention tests to me. I start initiating flashcards and regular quizzes. My classroom games change from UNO and Go Fish to jeopardy review. I guess this is the box I'm currently in. I had a few teaching moments today.

I tried to explain to SuJung the differences between see, look and watch. See is the general ability of the eyes, look is directed toward one object or person, and watch is directed toward a moving object. We watch TV and baseball games. We say "Look at me!" but "Watch me dance!" We looked out the classroom window, and I told her that I could see the market, the street, the fence, the cars--all in my peripheral vision--but that I was looking at the tree.

In another class, teaching was more of a chore. I got frustrated when a couple students couldn't remember to conjugate for he and she in the simple present tense. It seemed as if they were just slapping a sentence in their notebook without much thought. I ditched my lesson plan and drew a giant chart on the board with I, You, He, She, We and They on the left side and six different verbs written across the top. One by one, the students rolled dice to determine the pronoun and the verb, and then wrote the correct form for each on the grid. Anytime they conjugated for he/she, for example, "she studies," I asked them to color in the box if the verb contained an "s" at the ending. My hope is the long repetitive task will drill into their brain--I play, and you play, and he plays the piano. Tune in next week to see if it works!

For a different class, I've asked students to answer the question, "Why do we study English?" for homework. We made a list of English-speaking countries. Then I asked them to come up with three famous Korean people who use English in everyday life.

If my current comic box had a speech bubble, it might say something like: "English matters. So learn it!"

Little kid fun, Big kid fun

Last night, I had a dream that I was asked to teach a journalism course at UNI. I was given a topic, but I had to invent the curriculum for myself, so I printed a bunch of journalistic photos off the internet and came up with discussion questions for the events in each picture. And it worked out for the first class...then I was back to square one.

That's sort of how the science/conversation class for winter "break" has been--the class with the two brothers and JiWoo. When I told them on Wednesday that Friday was our

last class, they were visibly and audibly disappointed, which made me feel that maybe my ramshackle efforts paid off. On Friday, I had them write letters to their parents about what they learned in English class, then we went outside and played a version of tag where "it" can only step on certain playground colors. (We've had fairly nice weather here this week.) The game had been taught to me by other students: twin girls, You Rim and You Jin, their third

muskateer, Hajin, and little miss English genius, Anna.

I also took these four outside this week upon the order of Mrs. Joe, who hopes the people of Jilyang will see me playing in English and sign their children up to study with "Sally teacher." When she told me the plan, the thought of entertaining four eleven-year-olds in a small town with my limited Korean was unfavorable. Fortunately, the kids had a few ideas about what we should do. First, we ate kimbob and dukbooki and a small Korean diner, then we went to "Bang! Bang!"--a giant trampoline inside a carnival tent with balls and children bouncing everywhere. Dangerous, but fun anyway. We played a few dodgeball variations and duck, duck, goose, and in general, had a good time. As a post 40-minute workout refreshment, the girls insisted that we go to the market for ice cream. Finally, we went to the craft shop to buy supplies for a class project. It was a little girl afternoon.

Last weekend, Raeann and Jong, friends from my Snow Mountain Ranch summer of 2006, met up with me in Seoul. Raeann and I stayed up until 3 a.m., catching up on every major life event during the last four years. On Sunday, the three of us plus Raeann's brand new, fresh-off-the-plane, Canadian coworker drove around Seoul in Jong's car, listening to N'Sync and looking for a Dr. Fish spa to no avail. Instead, we ate a late Korean lunch and went to N'Seoul tower. We parked at the base of the mountain and hiked up the steep 20-minute stretch to the landmark. An orange and pink Seoul sunset backdropped the city landscape from at 1,574 feet above sea level. It's actually the shortest among major towers in the world. It's kind of strange, but they were practically advertising this fact. Quite a few tourists circled the observation deck and several attractions at the top, including a photo booth, tarot card readings, and a press-a-penny machine, only for Korean won obviously.

At the bottom of the tower, there was a big porch covered in padlocks of different colors, shapes and styles. Jong told us people select a padlock with their love, lock it around the fence and throw the key off the mountain to symbolically vow everlasting love. He did it once with his ex-girlfriend. Even more ironic, there's a sign that says, "Don't throw away your key!" on the fence.

The twenty minute hike down in the dark got us lost, so we had to take a taxi back to our car. It was pretty funny. We were all exhausted, but Raeann's new coworker, Rebecca, hadn't slept since the plane ride, hoping to hoodwink jet lag in order to regulate her schedule. I kept making jokes about Canadians being super laid-back, and Rebecca was a good example of that. Poor girl. After a long day, we decided a little American food would hit the spot. We bought a Papa John's pizza and ate until our stomach's were satisfied.

I know it's been a little while since I've written about my adventures in Korea. I sort of ran out of things to say for a while...also, I've spent too much time looking at a computer screen lately, and my eyes are suffering for it. So I need to take a couple of days away and look for entertainment elsewhere. Thank you for reading this now! I'll try to keep you updated.

January 12, 2010

It's January 12, 2010. 5 months away from my wedding day. About 2 and a half months until I go home. The weather is chilly but pleasant in comparison to treacherous Iowa winters. No more snow since the first one last week.

My work schedule has picked up a bit. I actually felt like full-time employee last week somehow. On Thursdays, I teach in Hayang, where JiMin is one of my students in a lively class of middle schoolers. I'm also giving private lessons to Mrs. Joe's daughter, Su Jung, who has taken over some of Justin's with recruiting tasks. Su Jung is my age, and while she seems to understand most everything I say, she needs to work on putting together coherent sentences that follow the correct subject-verb-object word order. Last week, I asked SuJung if she would accompany me on a makeup shopping trip. And she agreed. But when Saturday came, I found the thought of a somewhat awkward shopping trip to be less than appealing. My internal dialogue went something like this:

Me: Ugh! I don't want to go shopping tonight.

My conscience: Why not?

Me: Well, I just don't want to feel like I'm working on a Saturday night. I don't want to have to use my patient English mode all afternoon and then all night, too.

My conscience: Well, that sounds kind of selfish. You never seemed to mind that when you worked for CIEP.

Me: Well, yea, but with my job now, I have to be in that mode all day.

My conscience: Look, you can't just blow off SuJung. Do you remember how you excused yourself from hanging out with Jimin at WooBang Land a few months ago because you wanted to go to Jeju Island with your friends? And how you felt you'd let her down? You just can't be this way with people. You have to follow through.

So, I went anyway, and I was very glad I did. We shared a few laughs, made a few purchases, and she bought me dinner at a great Western restaurant. (SuJung studied cooking in college and knows what's what when it comes to finding a good restaurant. Also, it was pretty cute watching her goggle at some pretty and decadent cupcakes in a bakery window downtown. Once past the language barrier, SuJung is a great candidate to be my Korean friend.)

I tend to be skeptical when it comes to trying new products and have become pretty committed to Bare Minerals, which my friend Brittany got me hooked on a few years ago, but I quickly realized I wasn't going to have the luxury of being that picky. So I bought a few things at a Nature Republic--the only cosmetics store I've ever seen that uses a male celebrity to advertise it's products. The clerk at Nature Republic put my purchases as well as a dozen other samples (a defining quality of Korean face/body shops) into a bag with Rain's black-and-white photo. It strikes me as odd that they'd choose Rain to advertise such a feminine product. Then again, Rain's face is everywhere. The Korean superstar also advertises bakery items via Tous Les Jours, "hand phones" via SK Telecom, Lotte duty-free items, Pepsi in China, Clear shampoo in the Philippines, and various other products across Asia.

I've recently become keenly aware of time's passing. And I've realized that if there are things that I'm going to do in Korea, then now is not the time for stalling. This is exactly why I've decided to go to Seoul next weekend to see my friend Raeann from Colorado, who just arrived in Korea one week ago and based on our short conversation, is about as uncertain as I was one week in. I was going to wait for a more convenient weekend, but again, my weekends are numbered now, so what the heck! Also, I asked my boss to let me take my final vacation days at the end of my contract in March, so that I can go to Japan on my way out of Asia! I'm currently looking for a ticket to Japan on March 25 or 26th.

Mother May I finally made it into my menu of classroom games, and it's a real hit! I never realized how funny it could be to call a classmate "mother" or "father" in such a hierarchical culture, but some of my students got a real kick out of it! I overheard one winner giving another a hard time about using informal Korean because, he joked, "I am father!"

Wanted: Your culinary creativity

Several weeks ago, Hyunsuk asked me what kind of groceries I wanted before making a trip to Costco. One of my friends commented the other day that Koreans really do their own food better than any other country's food, which is why my list of items to buy at the store has become shorter and shorter. It's better to eat a delicious Korean meal than an American style meal that tastes crappy. The memo I wrote had about four items on it: spaghetti sauce, bread (with a decent fiber amount,) chicken nuggets, and canned soup. I told Hyunsuk that sometimes in the winter I liked to eat a simple soup with crackers. Remembering the breakfast chowder a few months ago, I thought surely Campbell's had an adequate variety of soups, and I left it that.

My host mom came home with about a 24-unit box of Cream of Mushroom. Not exactly what I had in mind. But an innocent mistake.

I tried to explain that Cream of Mushroom soup was actually more of an ingredient for cooking casseroles and dishes in the states, but not usually eaten on it's own. Still, I had to try it, right? She bought so much of it. And surely, somewhere along the line, someone thought Cream of Mushroom soup was a good idea on it's own. Maybe some of you who are reading even enjoy it. I don't know. Needless to say, it wasn't my thing. It felt dipping saltine crackers in an even more salty gravy.

One thing I really appreciate about my host mom is she doesn't like to waste food. She even made use of the less than tasty, over-preserved Costco colby jack cheese by coupling it with other ingredients for kimbob rolls. Now, she wants to find a solution for the soup.

So this post isn't about the story per se as much as it is a request for your creative cooking concoctions. Here's the catch: we don't have an oven...which pretty much rules out 80 percent of the recipes that call for cream of mushroom soup. But you're a smart bunch out there. (Aunt Janet, maybe you have some ideas.) What might we do with all this Cream of Mushroom soup?

Fish and kids

On the first day of 2010, Eli and her brother and sister, who came to visit for two weeks, let me chill with them for a while. We laid around for most of the day, which was fun, because usually, when I'm at Eli's, we're always getting ready to go out or have Bible study or something. Then in the late afternoon, we headed downtown to a little cafe that translated as something like Tree Swing Cafe. Customers could pay 4,000 won (about $4) for bread and coffee refreshment bar, then a little more to experience a little spa treatment called "Dr. Fish." Takers wade their feet in a small pool full of mini fish who swim around and feast off their dead skin. The fish seemed to enjoy a particularly dry patch I've had on my ankle for the past year or so.

Does it tickle? Yes, a little. Is it weird? Yes! Particularly when the fish nibble between your toes. Is it a cultural experience? Yes! Eli's brother Sam couldn't stand to keep his foot underwater for more than 30 seconds at a time without dying of laughter. (We bought 25 minutes of Dr. Fish!) The fish seemed to enjoy a particularly dry patch I've had on my ankle for the past year or so. They left the spot with a baby soft finish! It's so fun to experience something new for the new year!

One of the best things about being overseas is the international community. Not only have I met Koreans, but at different times, I've met Korean-Americans, South Africans, New Zealandites, Australians, Germans, Phillipinos, Canadians, etc. One couple from our church is from New Zealand, and they have two little girls with bright red hair: Grace and Lily. Norina, their mother, told me once that the girls both speak Korean and are more than willing to translate for their parents.

Yesterday, Grace took the initiative to introduce herself and to ask me, "Do you like my hair?"

I replied honestly, "Yes, I do."

"Do you want it?" she asked. Her forward, I-know-I'm-cute attitude shouldn't have surprised me. Kids say the darnest things, but still, I was surprised. "Yes, I do!" I replied enthusiastically and truthfully.

Later, Grace drew a tooth bracelet and a tooth ring on my hand and said I was the tooth fairy. She wanted me to return the favor. Trying to keep her excitement at bay and away from distracting others, I complied and she said I was good at drawing teeth. I was flattered. I always thought little girls with red hair were the cutest! Maybe someday Nick and I will create a little girl, but I don't think red hair is in our gene pool. Ahh...well...se la vie.

Two things today made me feel at home:

1. A sibling rivalry between two little boys in my science/conversation class. It started when Ji Yoon hit Tae Yoon with a snowball, pushing him to the ground, on the way to class. Ji Yoon came in first, panting as he explained the story. Then Tae Yoon came in a few minutes later with another snowball. I sympathized with Tae Yoon's need for revenge, but asked him to take it outside anyway. I didn't want to clean up melted snowball. For the remainder of the class, they were neck-in-neck competitive. Ji Yoon gets really upset when his younger brother interrupts him with the correct answer. By game time, Tae Yoon pouted over a game of Sally Says. Anyway, it reminded me of playing peacemaker between Brett and Jon years ago. The underdog, the younger one, tends to win my favor, which isn't always fair, but it's an attempt to even the playing field anyway.

2. Snow! I guess the previous story gave it away. Many people told me there wouldn't be much snow in Daegu, but it really snowed today. I couldn't believe my eyes. I even had to shuffle like a penguin along icy sidewalks--an unfortunate hallmark of winters in Cedar Falls.

Laura, in response to your comment, I have not read any Amy Tan stories. Should I look into this? Maybe I will the next time I'm looking for something to do on the internet.

Scary stories, and Happy New Year!

"You have been weighed, you have been measured, and you have been found wanting."

This line from the movie "Gladiator" always had a way of shaking me up. I mean the power with which Russell Crow says it to Maximus at the end is so victorious! Then I realized just today that the line was taken from a horror story in the Bible. In Daniel 6, when King Belshazzar brings out the stolen golden goblets, stolen from the temple of the Lord, to serve his nobles and concubines and praises the gods of gold and silver. Suddenly, the fingers of a human hand appear and writes something on the plaster walls. When enchanter or diviner is able to interpret the writing, Belshazzar summons Daniel, who was appointed chief of the magicians, enchanters and diviners, a title which would probably ostracize Daniel if he were living among Christians today. Daniel interprets the writing and in v. 27 tells the king, "You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting."

The story is a reminder that God is so much less caucasian, conservative, Western, lecture-style, linear-minded, white bread, pews and liturgies than we thought. He's horrific! I mean Belshazzar kicks back for a weekend party, busts out the fine china for his guests, and the group, impressed by the gold goblets, praise the maker of gold and silver, which they believe to be a divine being. Then, all of the sudden, a human finger forms and begins writing on the wall. Belshazzar collapsed out of fear! How different is the scene from "The Shining," when "Redrum" appears on the walls? Belshazzar is told that God has numbered his days, that he falls short and that his glory will be given to his neighbors. Then, that evening, Belshazzar is slain.

God is horrific! And it's all over the Bible, but unfortunately, reading the same passages about exorcisms and miracles can sometimes take all the magic out of the truth. I realize to some people that sounds like an oxymoron--magic and truth. But I don't think it is. I suppose the words magic and miracles carry different connotations for Christians, but essentially, they're the same kind of happening, each drawing the power from different sources.

A few weeks ago, I was leaving the house to meet my friends downtown when something peculiar happened. I bundled up for the cold winter air that had almost kept me from going out at all and stumbled down 3 flights of stairs to find Hyunsuk on the main level, talking.... I looked around the dark room and saw no one with whom she might be talking. She wasn't holding the cell phone to her ear either, but she appeared to be talking to someone outdoors. She stared out the glass entrance to the church and chattered away. When she saw me coming, she turned to acknowlege me, and I asked her, "who are you talking to?"

"Church member," she replied.

"Outside?" I asked.

"No," she said calmly, smiling as she shook her head. And that was it!

I looked around the room again, checking the corners for hidden people, but again, I saw no one.

Dumbfounded and speechless, I said "o...ok?" and "goodnight." Heading outside, I did a couple double-takes to see if she was still standing there, making conversation with her invisible church member friend.

Later, when I relayed this story to my friends, Eli and Heidi, and my coworker, Patrick, they were just as weirded out. Patrick tried to think of other explanations and asked, "are you sure she wasn't talking on her phone?" But the truth is, I'm sure she was talking to a ghost or some sort of spiritual being. Why not? God is spooky.

I don't think God would ever send me a ghost or an isolated hand writing death curses on walls because I think he knows it would scare me, even if I do believe in them.

Anyway, speaking of things that are a little bit strange yet awesome, 2009 is over! Happy New Year everyone!

One year ago, Nick and I went to a party together to celebrate the new year. I remember being crazy in love with each other that night. I thought he was going to propose any day during our winter vacation. And he did propose, two and half months later.

In the past year, I got engaged, graduated from college, and came to Korea to teach English to children. Not too shabby. And in the year to come, I'll come home, get married and,... well, only God knows what's to come in this adventure.

Last night, I celebrated with many of the wonderful people I've met! It was a really sweet time. (Also in weird news, it was pretty weird to not hear Auld Lang Syne coming out of the televisions speakers at The New Yorker, a local restaurant/bar, last night. They played this other song, which sang, "Happy New Year! Happy New Year!" Fitting, I guess.)

Blessings to you all in 2010!

Playing Santa, Beautiful Busan

Playing Santa

Christmas is not as big in Korea as it is in the states. In fact, most of my students had no plans for Christmas day because the national holiday is for couples and Christians rather than families and heavy commercialism. JiHey told me a few times that no gifts would be given on

Christmas, but I couldn't imagine a Christmas without gifts. So I made it my mission to play

Santa Clause this year and spent Christmas eve shopping along Youngdae for the Kim family.

Within ten minutes, I readily committed to a scarf and two matching fleece pullovers for Hyunsuk and the girls. However, despite having five brothers, I've always been terrible at picking out gifts for male recipients. It's not that I have any sort of major failure on my record to crush my confidence, but I just can never seem to think of a super gift for the men in my life. Add in a few cultural differences and the task becomes even more challenging. Luckily, my coworker Patrick introduced me to a few of his Korean friends who had the afternoon off and were able to help me out a bit. With the help of HyungWoo and ByungMoo, I found a scarf and tie in KyungSan suitable for both MinWoo and Moxanim. (Yes, men wear all kinds scarves, and it's totally masculine and stylish!) Meanwhile, Patrick's chingus (friends) taught me several Korean idioms and cultural rules. For example, a comic book is an inappropriate Christmas gift because it doesn't promote studiousness. I taught them the expression "out of my league," and they returned the favor by teaching me "keurim y duk," or painting of a rice cake--an idiom used for a person who is unapproachably attractive.

On Christmas morning, I laid out their gifts anonymously before anyone was up and about, then I coached myself to plead Santa, should they try to thank me. I think they were on to me anyway. Hyunsuk was the first to notice the gifts and thanked me right away. When I acted ignorant and suggested Santa Clause, she said something "yea, ...ok, thank you!" JiMin laughed at my Santa excuse and asked me, "Are you Santa Claus?" Then she wrote a thank you note addressed to "Sally Santa." It was fun playing Santa! I look forward to doing it again someday with my children.

Beautiful Busan

At noon, I met Gloria, one of my Korean friends, at Dongdaegu Station to take a KTX train to Busan for the day. Couple with linked arms were everywhere, and to be honest, it made me want to cry a few times. (At one point, I was on a busy subway in the middle of three different couples, cuddling and flirting with each other. I had to keep changing my gaze to keep from staring and missing that sort of affection.) It was a good day to be in the company of girls and experiencing new aspects of Korea. A good day to want to be in Korea. It was also a good time to come visit my friend Heidi because we're both in serious relationships but away from the person we love. Heidi's boyfriend is working in China until February.

Gloria and I met up with another Korean friend, Linda, who is from Busan and knows her way around pretty well. We went to Jagalchi Market, which is basically rows and rows of people selling different kinds of fish. Linda taught us the Jagalchi Market expression "Come and see and buy!" After avoiding eye contact with several aggressive merchants, a trustworthy fish merchant put a live flounder and two other unknown fishes in a deep red basket and then directed us to the dining area to eat our purchases--fresh and raw--and served with rice, stew, and sides, of course. I surprised myself. Delicious!

After eating our fill of sashimi, we squeezed our way through the crowds to browse through other market items, including socks with Obama, Starbucks and Korean won bill prints for 1,00o won each ($1.) It takes a long time to get through the crowds. It's exhilarating for the first hour, then it's tiresome. Heidi finished work and met up with us for dinner, coffee and a movie in her small studio apartment. We watched "Four Christmases" on her laptop computer and enjoyed the warmth of being with friends on Christmas night.

On Saturday, Gloria, Linda and I went to Haeundai Beach, which was beautiful beyond words. My favorite part was the seagulls. Take a look at the video down below.

We also visited Nurimaru, the site of the 2005 APEC summit, an event which put Busan on the world map for global tourism. It sort of baffled me how the building was made for the sole purpose of a single global leader meeting, but is now being used as a tourist attraction. Anyway, here's a picture of George W. Bush in hanbok. I wonder if he was wearing traditional garb as he discussed WTO negotiations with other foreign leaders.

After walking around the beach for a while, we rushed off to a subway so that I could catch a train with enough time to get back to Jilyang for my Saturday class Christmas party. All in all, it was a good time and a merry Christmas, indeed!